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Somali Authorities Search for Abducted WHO Workers

by Sahra Abdi Ahmed

   Authorities in southern Somalia are searching for [1]five World Health
   Organization workers who were abducted by suspected al-Shabab
   militants.

   Colonel Deeq Abdi Khaliif, commander of the Somali army in the town of
   Luuq, says the workers were in their homes Sunday when gunmen broke in,
   took them by force and drove them to a remote area.

   "At 4 a.m. local time, Maganey village, close to Luuq, was attacked by
   gunmen from al-Shabab, and [they] kidnapped the five men who were
   contractors for WHO. We are now pursuing them to free the abducted
   men," Khaliif told VOA Somali Service.

   The five men, all Somali nationals, were working on a polio vaccination
   program for the WHO.

   The U.N. agency has not made any comment on the abduction.

   Before the kidnapping, the aid workers had received death threats
   indicating that al-Shabab objects to their work. The al-Qaida-linked
   extremist group has not allowed polio vaccination programs in districts
   it controls.

   The group has also spread false rumors that the vaccines contain the
   AIDS virus or cause sterility. The campaign has led some parents to
   refuse to have their children vaccinated.

   Despite efforts by international organizations to eradicate the
   disease, polio outbreaks persist in Somalia. A 2015 WHO report said
   that 420,000 children living in parts of Somalia not under government
   control had not been vaccinated.

References

   1. http://www.who.int/hac/donorinfo/somalia.pdf